


A Voice Yet To Break

by harvroth



Series: Milestones of Bob and Alicia Zimmermann [10]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 14 year old Jack and Kent, Angst (a little?), Comfort (a little?), F/M, hockey fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 05:33:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10405023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harvroth/pseuds/harvroth
Summary: Today, though, she was 90% sure one of her worst fears would get put into play and that her son would get into a fight, if the scowl she'd seen a million times on a face much like Jack's was anything to go by, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know what to say apart from I don't know? It's not very cutesy, not too angsty either. Tooemotionallyinvestedingoalies on tumblr suggested it and I liked it so I wrote it and here it is ....  
> If you hate Kent, well he's not prominent in this but he's there.  
> Also, I'm also debating on whether to post a Christmas morning Drabble the same person prompted (it's not noticeably Christmas tho) so yeah I guess if you wanna read a messy cuddly fic let me know

**Sunday, 14th of November 2004**

Alicia had been convinced that she could get no tenser than when she'd been watching Bob playing hockey and getting slammed into boards.

She'd been wrong.

Watching Jack, her 14 year old son!, getting slammed into boards gave her 10 times more heart problems.

While being incredibly proud of how talented her son was, she'd not enjoyed watching him move from hockey league to hockey league with his age, each rank getting more violent. Now he'd reached Bantam, he was allowed to participate in body checking. Alicia admittedly struggled to watch longer than 10 minutes without covering her eyes.

Bob, however, had had a hand clapped over his mouth too many times to count, after shouting body checking encouragements at Jack.

Alicia did not approve.

Jack's voice hadn't even broken yet, he was still a child for goodness sake, he was not allowed to slam anyone or be slammed into any boards. Ideally, anyhow, much to Alicia's annoyance, her praying to God while Jack played had no bearing and her son still came home with bruises. Bruises that resembled far too many of Bob's that he'd gotten in the NHL with fully grown men (with deep voices).

She wasn't sure her sanity would survive if Jack followed his dad's footsteps into the NHL. Her son was undoubtedly talented, she'd been to enough hockey games to know this. But being talented didn't prevent injuries. Lord knows how many awful injuries her husband had come home with (or had gone to hospital with) and he was one of the most talented hockey players to live.

One of the angriest, too, she was sure. A trait, she prayed, she hoped Jack hadn't got. Bob had gotten into and prompted a million fights with the majority of players on the ice. It elicited both anger and fear in her, which tended to disappear as soon as Bob came home with black eyes and sore knuckles and an incredibly guilty look. She'd never made him promise not to do it again. That would be futile.

However, if Jack ever came home with one single tiny mark on his face from a fight, he would promise his mother he would absolutely not get in any fights until he was an adult and in the NHL (though preferably not even then).

She'd also lectured Bob on not encouraging any fights, but she was sure that had gone straight over his head. She wasn't the greatest French speaker (though she'd got the accent down to a T) but she had heard her boys whispering insults towards all the other players, he'd just played or he was going to play, like the bitches they could be.

Today, though, she was 90% sure one of her worst fears would get put into play and that her son would get into a fight, if the scowl she'd seen a million times on a face much like Jack's was anything to go by, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

 

**_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_**

 

Five minutes in to the second period Alicia watched as Jack cracked. There was one particular player who had been on Jack the whole game, not ever touching him, but trailing him and clearly throwing insults out. Jack had managed to ignore him, though his scowl had progressively got deeper, until the player had said something and Jack hadn't even hesitated before dropping his gloves and swinging a fist into the boy's face.

Alicia gasped and jumped up, Bob swearing next to her, as she watched in horror as the boy hit back, hard, and Jack proceeded to push him to the ice and was clearly ready to go in for more, before Jack's best friend and their billet child, Kent, had grabbed his arms and pulled him back. Kent hissed something in Jack's ear as their teammates watched and argued with the referees. She couldn't really breathe, especially not as Jack turned in her direction and she got sight of the red streaming out his nose.

She was torn between wanting to run down there and cuddle him and kiss him and just be a loving mother, or going down there and scolding him for throwing the first punch. Instead, for the fact she couldn't do anything else, she stood in the stands, barely breathing, and squeezing on to Bob's hand, who, for once, looked more concerned than proud.

Rationally, Alicia knew Jack was fine, all it was wsd a bruised and bloody nose, he'd done quite well in defending himself after the first punch, but she was still trapped a hundred feet away while her son bled, looking seething. Thought what Kent said after the referee directed Jack to the penalty box appeared to calm Jack down, she wouldn't be okay as soon as she'd got a close inspection of him.

 

**_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_**

 

After Alicia had finally sat down, still feeling queasy and Bob had put their joined hands on her lap, she'd barely watched the game. Even once Jack was back on the ice and cleaned up, she couldn't watch. The only times she'd looked up from twirling Bob's wedding ring around was when the three goals were announced, one being from Jack, one being from Kent and the other from a different forward when they weren't on the ice. Of course Alicia clapped but it was feeble and she went back to holding Bob's hand again after, counting down the time until she could hold her boy and make sure he was okay for herself. Bob felt tense too, and the way he was rubbing his thumb across her hand felt like reassurance for not just her, but himself too.

Finally, _finally_ , the end of the game came and neither Bob nor Alicia wasted time before grabbing their things and racing downstairs to wait for them. Their boys probably wouldn't be out the locker room for about 20 minutes so there probably wasn't any point in rushing. Once they'd got there, Bob just leant against the wall and Alicia slipped into his arms, breathing his scent in and calming herself down.

 _Don't be too hard on him, something clearly upset him, don't give him too much grief,_ she told herself internally as Bob rubbed her back. Though she wasn't even annoyed, not like she used to be with Bob, a grown man, initially but that irritation hadn't lasted long then either.

"He's okay, mon cœur," Bob breathed into her hair, "just a punch."

Alicia pulled back slightly and looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed, "just a punch that made him bleed, Bobby. Besides, he started the fight, something clearly upset him."

Bob sighed, and kissed her forehead.

They stood like that for the next 15 minutes before she felt Bob stand up straight. Alicia pulled away and looked around, her eyes falling on to her son, who was walking behind Kent, his head down, looking sheepish. He was probably nervous about her being angry but, as it always did with Bob, her anger completely disappeared at the sight of him looking guilty and nervous, hadn't even lasted after the first 5 minutes.

"Jack," she exhaled, stepping forward and lifting his face, where a big bruise bloomed over his nose. Her heart squeezed wanting desperately to take away the ache it was no doubt giving him.

"What happened, baby, what did he say?"

Jack didn't reply, but Alicia didn't miss the way his eyes flickered to his dad, who was stood right behind Alicia, and oh. He had said something about Jack's dad. With the way she felt Bob tense up behind her, he'd figured that much out too.

Alicia suddenly didn't want to know what had been said, not with Bob listening, anyway. Bob already felt so guilty about all the articles appearing in newspapers comparing the two Zimmermanns, all the newspapers slating Jack for being too much like his dad or not like his dad at all. Bob felt painfully guilty about the fact they always reflected Jack's playing on Bob's, when Jack had his own talent, was his own player.

"What did he say, Jack?" Bob sounded half angry, half upset, half as if he needed to know and half as if he didn't want to know.

Alicia didn't want Jack to reply, not here, not with Jack's teammates walking past, she didn't really want Jack to reply in front of Bob at all, honestly. She didn't want Bob to blame himself, which he undoubtedly would, but Bob would most likely make it his mission to find out what had been said.

Just not here.

"It's okay, darling, we'll talk about it later," she said, stroking his cheek before stepping away and looking at Bob who looked pale, his jaw tense.

"Let's go home," Alicia breathed, slipping her hand into Bob's and rubbing. He looked down at her briefly and her heart ached, both for him and his guilt and for Jack and his bruise.

 

**_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_/•\\_**

 

"It was just-" Jack started the second they climbed in the car, sooner than she expected, as if he didn't want to lose the courage to tell them, "he was saying loads of things about all 3 of you which was annoying me and I was trying to not get angry but then he called papa a cheater which wasn't nearly as bad as the things he'd been saying and I'd just had enough and- I'm sorry," he trailed off. It broke her heart that he was sorry for getting angry about being provoked with nasty comments about his own parents. Jack had never been particularly good at communicating, not when it involved feelings, so Alicia was surprised he'd opened up so quickly and voluntarily.

Bob's hands were clenching the steering wheel hard and he didn't reply. Alicia, however, was surprisingly calm despite how frantic she'd been watching him. Now that she was with him and he was okay (though if it was acceptable for a 42 year old woman to give a 14 year old a bruise, the boy would have one matching Jack's right now), and Bob was most definitely being internally self-deprecating and Jack was clearly very nervous about getting into a fight in front of his parents, Alicia just wanted to calm her own boys. She didn't want them to both be distressed about something that neither were to blame but were adamant on blaming themselves anyway.

"Honey," Alicia said softly, twisting to look at Jack, "there's no need to be sorry, you had every right to be angry, and while I did not appreciate watching you get into a fight," he winced so she reached out and stroked his knee, leaving it there as she continued, "It's nice you stood up for us. However, please don't let them provoke you Jack, for your benefit not just ours, that's what they want. You're an incredibly skilled player, they want you in the penalty box and they'll get to you however they can. Don't let them, sweetie. Don't punch them first. They want that." She said firmly but gently too, looking into his eyes. He nodded, patting her hand in his awkward affectionate way.

She twisted even further and looked at Jack's even more baby faced best friend, "same goes for you Kent, they throw insults at you, don't rise to it. It's easier said than done, I know, but try."

Kent nodded, and she hoped he took it in because he could be immature sometimes and she could see him going into the NHL and trying to fight anyone - which, if he carried on growing as slowly as he has done - wouldn't be the best idea, "I won't," he replied.

She looked back to Jack, squeezed his knee, and then turned back to her husband who still looked just as tense. Dropping her hand on to his thigh, she rubbed it. Looking at her quickly, he let out a breath and his hands relaxed a little on the steering wheel. Once they'd got home and eaten and the boys were in bed, she'd talk to him and try her hardest to stop the blame and self hatred growing throwing his head.

Being a hockey wife and mum had made her both more paranoid and panicky and a terrible member of a crowd, but also thicker skinned. She had to be to guide her boys through the tougher parts of hockey. She may feel bad along with them but for both of them she was one of the few who could bring them out of it. No matter what her Zimmermanns were hurt about, and their hurt tended to go hand in hand considering Jack's hurt was more often than not at the expense of newspapers comparing him to his dad in a nasty way, she would be strong for them.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm claycro on tumblr, come talk to me or suggest things to write xxx
> 
> As always I try to do the research what I need to, I try to make it all smooth and fitting with both canon and my others and I also try to make it make sense!


End file.
